Shad Burner, a management consultant who has been working with Southeast Missouri Regional Economic Development Inc. (SEMO REDI) for the last year, has been named its first chief executive officer, effective Aug. 1.

Burner said he is excited to be chosen by the group’s Board of Directors for the new role.

“I think that, as we continue to grow the organization and move forward, there’s so much potential and so much opportunity to do big things in Southeast Missouri and tackle some of these macroeconomic trends,” he said.

SEMO REDI is a multi-organizational group with the goal of expanding economic growth in the Southeast Missouri area. Burner had joined the group in a consulting role in July 2023, helping it through a major restructuring and aiding in a search for a CEO.

The group worked with multi-state executive search consultants Waverly Partners to launch a search effort for potential candidates. It ultimately lasted some six months. During the second round of the search, Burner threw his hat in the ring following encouragement from others. He submitted his resume, was interviewed and ultimately received the nomination.

Burner’s economic background experience includes several years with the Missouri Department of Economic Development and a decade on the Board of Directors for the Missouri Economic Development Council. He also served as vice president of business development for the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce.

Dwain Hahs, chairman of the SEMO REDI Board of Directors and mayor of Jackson, said the board was impressed with these years of experience and leadership, and it ultimately aided them in choosing Burner for the CEO position.

“I think his experience in those roles has given him connections to different organizations on a state level and even a national level that will help,” Hahs said.

Burner said he wants to lead SEMO REDI to promote economic growth the area can be proud of. Macroeconomic trends such as a stagnant population and declining GDP growth are harming Southeast Missouri’s prospects, he added.

“We’ve been trying to tackle this as a region, as a state, as a country, and we need to take some different tactics to do it. We’re convening the right partners to figure out what ways we can do that and best support the private sector,” Burner said. “… We’re not a region that touts our positives as loudly and as clearly as we probably should, so I think that’s a key part of what we want to do at SEMO REDI is to share our message better … and make sure people know who we are in Southeast Missouri.”

He said his priority is to grow attraction and retention rates for both businesses and the workforce. He is still in the process of identifying projects to help with that, though one industrial site feasibility study is already underway.

Burner described his new role as essentially a scaled-up version of the work he already did for SEMO REDI. He anticipated hiring additional people to help him out.

“There’s still a ton of work to do, but because I’ve been here the last year now, I have a pretty solid understanding of the opportunities ahead, the challenges we’ll face and who all the right players are locally and in the state to help make it happen,” he said.

Burner is a native of Southeast Missouri, a Southeast Missouri State University graduate and has resided in Cape Girardeau for more than 20 years.